China and France Ink Broad $15-Billion Deal, Spotlight VeChain, Blockchain and Pivotal New Food Platform
The developers of VeChain, a blockchain-powered platform that focuses on streamlining supply chain management processes, is revealing plans to launch Foodgates, a cross-border logistics and trading platform.
Announced at this year’s China International Import Expo 2019 (CIIE), the platform is the first cross-continental logistics and trades solution powered by the VeChainThor public blockchain for the food and beverage industry.
VeChain is collaborating with two partners to deliver Foodgates: certification body DNV GL and logistics firm ASI Group. The three companies signed a memorandum of understanding with the Henan Pilot Free Trade Zone to import high-end products and food items from France, such as beef and pork and Boisset wine from Burgundy, to the free-trade zone.
By using the Foodgates, all parties are able to verify and certify data throughout the full lifecycle of tracked products and processes, including cow selection, slaughtering, packing and cross-country shipping.
The VeChain announcement coincides with a broader $15-billion deal between China and France that was revealed on Wednesday during French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to China. The deals include approval for 20 French companies to export poultry, beef and pork to China, reports Reuters, as well as approval for poultry exports to include duck and geese as well as foie gras.
According to VeChain’s official announcement,
“[The Foodgates] solution enables Chinese buyers to purchase excellent French products with total and transparent assurance about the origin, quality, safety and end-to-end traceability. … French producers [will] have direct and efficient access to the Chinese market, which creates a trustworthy bridge between both ends.”
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“Foodgates aims to provide a world premium, trusted blockchain-powered platform for international buyers and consumers of high-end food & beverage products, safeguarding product quality and safety.”
The initiative was revealed on November 7th during a press conference organized by the France China committee which is part of the Mouvement des Entreprises de France (MEDEF), a French network with over 750,000 member companies.
Macron attended the opening ceremony of CIIE where he and Chinese President Xi Jinping and his delegation tasted Limousin Label Rouge Beef from Limousin Promotion imported via Foodgates.
According to VeChain, the company is well positioned to benefit from President Xi’s recent embrace of blockchain and China’s ambitions of becoming the world leader in driving the proliferation of the technology’s use cases.
“VeChain, being a global blockchain technology platform provider with significant resources in China and Europe, will be a direct beneficiary of this bullish shift by the second largest economy in the world.”
China is France’s seventh biggest trading partner. The $12-trillion economy imports billions of dollars of French goods each year. The bilateral trade between China and France recently exceeded $60 billion with a strong demand in China for agricultural exports from France.
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